Khatia Buniatishvili: Why I won’t play in Russia

Peter says:

What a hypocrite nonsense she tells. Have we forgotten already that it were the warmongering imperialist US Neocons around Cheney and Rice who kicked off the short battle between Georgia and Russia, having placed their US trained puppet of a Georgian president first, their military being trained extensively for the coup by US and Israeli military advisors?
Is she refusing to perform in the US? If not, what is her point? Is this a sales pitch?

Stephen says:

You don’t like her looks, you don’t like her playing, you don’t agree with her views? Then look elsewhere; get out your old LPs.

Bruce says:

Copy of a comment I posted back in May (on a thread about the same pianist):

I think it would be fun (in a perverse way) if male performers were judged on their looks the way female performers are judged on theirs.

For example, things a male performer should have:
– beautiful perfect hair
– beautiful perfect cheekbones
– straight elegant nose
– square jaw with firm yet luscious lips
– broad muscular shoulders & chest
– beautifully manicured hands
– classic fitness-model “V” shaped torso
– tight firm buttocks
– larger-than-average crotch bulge
– long muscular legs
– between 6 feet and 6 feet 4 inches tall

– The performer would be aware that any deviation from these criteria would be expected to have a noticeable impact on his career (for better or worse, depending).
– It would be acceptable for any of these to be altered artificially, as long as the result did not look artificial.
– He would be expected to dress for all performances, and pose for publicity shots & album covers, in a way that displays all of these attributes so that the audience can evaluate them without having to resort to speculation; if he didn’t do so, he could expect limited interest from audiences.
– BUT if the evaluation was too easy — i.e., not enough left to the imagination — or if he simply meets all these criteria too well, or if he is perceived to be trying too hard to meet them, then it would be assumed that he is trading on his looks, and respect for his technical and artistic accomplishments would be withheld to a corresponding degree.
– Lastly, audiences & critics would be expected to draw attention constantly to any and all of these visual criteria, while denying that any of it is relevant to their evaluation of the artistic product. This point of view would be accepted as logical and consistent.
– See more at: https://slippedisc.com/2016/05/what-khatia-wore-to-zubins-80th/#sthash.MbqIQeuV.9c42k6sP.dpuf

David Nice says:

Well, I’ve reached the end of the comments to date and most of them sum up all that’s worst about this sort of thing. Though I’m grateful to Michael Schaffer for alerting me to the term ‘whataboutism’, which sums so much up here.

On the choice not to play in Russia, yes, it may have to do with her being Georgian but she’s not claiming a Rostropovich-like position of authority. And while many of the other countries mentioned are democracies flawed to varying degrees, Russia is indeed close to Stalinism under Putin.

On Buniatishvili’s talents, she is IMO wildly erratic but can do wonderful things which justify her position. The only kind of marketable beauty one has a right to complain about is where the music-making doesn’t match up to the looks. Hers does, if only intermittently; Argerich would never have championed her otherwise.